(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, copier, facsimile machine and the like, and in particular, relates to an image forming apparatus having a discharge and pickup arrangement for receiving printouts discharged to the paper output portion therein.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a typical paper output tray 24 used in an image forming apparatus such as a copier, printer, multi-functional machine and the like is fixed to the side panel of the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 and is extended from the image forming machine body to the outer side. Therefore, such image forming apparatus needs a large footprint, which has been a critical obstacle against miniaturization.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Hei 5 No.278921 discloses a configuration of a paper output tray which is disposed in the depressed portion at the paper exit of the image forming apparatus and can be folded and folded out. This paper output tray is made of a thin resin sheet having a corrugated configuration with many folds. When the image forming apparatus is not used, the paper output tray can be folded or retracted into the depressed portion at the output paper exit, thus reducing the footprint. When the apparatus is operated for printing etc., the paper output tray is folded out so that the output paper can be received thereon without any loss of usual usefulness.
However, in the paper output tray of the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Hei 5 No.278921, the paper output tray can be folded up when the image forming apparatus is unused but it must be stretched out to the paper output side when the machine is used. Therefore, the merit of reducing the footprint of the image forming apparatus is not so beneficial. Therefore, in a circumstance under which the machine is infrequently used, the paper output tray can be inserted into the image forming apparatus body so as to reduce the footprint. However, in an expected usual use environment, tedious work is needed for retracting and folding out the paper output tray, resulting in inconvenience.
Recently, instead of the paper output tray stretched out from the side panel of the image forming apparatus, so-called wingless image forming apparatuses, which have a hollow for paper output inside the body of the image forming apparatus, have been developed. In a wingless image forming apparatus, the paper output portion is typically located over the paper feed portion and under the original reading portion.
In an apparatus having the paper output portion positioned as such, when large paper is used for printouts, the user is able to easily know the presence of printouts and the necessity of removal. However, if small paper is used for printouts, such paper will not extend out from the space of the paper output portion, so it is likely that the user look over the discharged printouts and may miss picking it up.
The present invention has been devised in order to solve the above problem and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wingless-type image forming apparatus which allows the user to readily remove printouts without failing to pick up the discharged paper.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows:
In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes:
a main part including a printer portion for printing the information of scanned originals and a paper feed portion for feeding print paper to the printer portion;
an original reading portion for reading originals; and
a paper output portion disposed under the original reading portion for receiving printed paper, and is characterized in that the paper output portion includes a paper output tray pivotally supported at a corner thereof so as to swivel in the horizontal plane, and the original reading portion overlaps at least part of the paper output tray.
In accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above first feature is characterized in that a transparent shroud is formed upright with respect to the tray bottom for receiving printed paper, along the edge of the paper output tray on the front side of the main part.
In accordance with the third aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above first feature is characterized in that an elastic element is provided for the paper output tray so that it is hooked to the main part.
In accordance with the fourth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above second feature is characterized in that an elastic element is provided for the paper output tray so that it is hooked to the main part.
In accordance with the fifth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above first feature is characterized in that the paper output tray has an aligner for aligning printed sheets.
In accordance with the sixth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above second feature is characterized in that the paper output tray has an aligner for aligning printed sheets.
In accordance with the seventh aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above third feature is characterized in that the paper output tray has an aligner for aligning printed sheets.
In accordance with the eighth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having the above fourth feature is characterized in that the paper output tray has an aligner for aligning printed sheets.
In accordance with the ninth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having one of the above fifth to eighth features is characterized in that the aligner is a moving presser for pressing the printed sheet from the top face thereof.
In accordance with the tenth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus having one of the above fifth to eighth features is characterized in that the aligner is a moving member which can move in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of printed sheets.
In accordance with the eleventh aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus comprising:
a main part including a printer portion for printing the information of scanned originals and a paper feed portion for feeding print paper to the printer portion;
an original reading portion for reading originals; and
a paper output portion disposed in a space under the original reading portion for receiving printed paper and enclosed by the printer portion and paper feed portion, and is characterized in that the paper output portion includes a paper output tray pivotally supported at a corner thereof so as to swivel in the horizontal plane.
In the first and eleventh configurations, the image forming apparatus includes: a main part having a printer portion and a paper feed portion; an original reading portion; and a paper output portion disposed under the original reading portion. The paper output portion of the image forming apparatus includes a paper output tray pivotally supported at one corner thereof so as to swivel in the horizontal plane. Therefore, it is possible for the user to easily pick up discharged printed sheets by pulling out the paper output tray without the necessity of bending over to check the paper output portion. Further, even if relatively small-sized print sheets such as postcards are used, the user will not miss picking them up. This contributes to improvement in handling the image forming apparatus.
In the second configuration, the paper output tray provided in the paper output portion has a transparent shroud which is formed upright with respect to the tray bottom for receiving printed paper, along the edge of the paper output tray on the front side of the main part. Therefore, it is possible to easy monitor whether printed sheets are discharged on the paper output tray.
In the third and fourth configurations, an elastic element is provided for the paper output tray so that the tray is hooked to the main part of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the paper output tray will return to its original position by the function of the elastic element after its being drawn out. Thus, the user does not need to reset the paper output tray to the initial position after picking up printouts from the tray. This contributes to improvement in handling the image forming apparatus.
In the fifth to eighth configurations, the paper output tray provided in the paper output portion has an aligner for aligning printed sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus. Therefore, a multiple number of discharged printed sheets in the paper output portion of the image forming apparatus can be aligned by the aligner. As a result, the printed sheets picked up from the paper output tray can be handled easily.
In the ninth configuration, the paper output tray provided in the paper output portion has a movable aligner for aligning the printed sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus, by pressing them from the top. Therefore the printed sheets discharged in the paper output tray can be aligned with respect to the direction of discharge.
In the tenth configuration, the paper output tray provided in the paper output portion has movable aligners which can move with respect to the sheet conveying direction and the direction perpendicular to it. Therefore, the printed sheets discharged in the paper output tray can be aligned along both the sheet conveying direction and the direction perpendicular to it.
In the above first and eleventh configurations, when a drive mechanism for swiveling the paper output tray is provided, the paper output tray can be turned by the drive mechanism. Therefore, the user of the image forming apparatus will never miss picking up the printed sheets discharged on the paper output tray.